People often wish to communicate face-to-face with others who are located remotely from them. For example, employees may wish to work from home but may need to communicate visually with their coworkers and employer. A business in Washington may wish to meet with clients in Florida without incurring the expenses and time related to traveling. A student in Maine may wish to take courses and attend classes offered by a university in California without having to move there. Researchers scattered across the country may wish to collaborate on a common project. A myriad of other examples abound that relate to benefits associated with being able to communicate both visually and audibly from remote locations.
It would be desirable to provide video-conferencing functionality via television sets or similar devices (HDTV monitors, flat-panel displays, etc.) without the need for equipment dedicated to such services. Many people have set-top boxes that source content to a television set. The current state of the art could be advanced by providing video conferencing services to television devices through host devices, such as set-top boxes.